TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Sunday (Apr 20) that a review into last month’s killing of emergency responders in Gaza last month found there had been “several profesional failures” and that a commander would be dismissed over the incident.
The 15 paramedics and other rescue workers were shot dead on Mar 23 in three separate shootings at the same location near the southern Gaza city of Rafah. They were buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
In a statement released on Sunday, the military said a commanding officer is to be reprimanded. A deputy commander, a reservist who was the field commander, will be dismissed from his position for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report, it said.
“The examination identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident,” the military said in a statement.
“The fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting,” it said.
The military advocate general was conducting its own investigation and criminal charges could be pursued, according to the military.
A video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed uniformed emergency responders and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.
Major General Yoav Har-Even, who conducted the review, told reporters that soldiers had believed they were under threat after firing on what they initially determined as a Hamas vehicle but was in fact an ambulance. Two occupants were killed and a third was detained and questioned over suspected Hamas links.
